Kodak DCS: Why the Revolutionary Digital Camera System Failed to Catch On
Sometimes, having an original idea isn’t everything. Innovation can strike at the wrong moment, fizzing out before it has a chance to materialize.
Sometimes, having an original idea isn’t everything. Innovation can strike at the wrong moment, fizzing out before it has a chance to materialize.
Throughout the history of photography, few names have endured for as long and few have left as significant of an impact on the medium as Olympus.
Today, most of the consumer-grade camera landscape is dominated by less than half a dozen brands. Canon, Sony, and Nikon take the lion’s share in terms of sales and public recognition, while almost all the gaps are filled by smaller companies like Fujifilm and Pentax.
While attending the CP+ 2023 show in Yokohama, Japan, back in February, I had the opportunity to meet with independent lens manufacturer Tamron. It had been a very long time since my last official contact with them, and a lot has changed over the intervening years. (The last time I attended a formal Tamron event was all the way back in 2015, when they introduced their excellent f/1.8 wide-angle primes.)
Over the last decade, mirrorless camera technology has evolved to the point that it's now a welcome technology for many photographers and filmmakers. Although, along the way, it's not been an easy ride for the big mirrorless camera brands. User sentiment, Japanese earthquakes, the pandemic, and newer technology adoption have all taken their toll, leading to spot fires in the manufacturing process and camera uptake.
It's no secret that Nikon has been having a tough time financially -- a result of an over-reliance on its Imaging Division -- and has been implementing a medium-term strategy to help balance the books and foster long-term growth. Results from its Imaging Division suggest it is struggling and possibly caught in a perfect storm.
GNARBOX is no longer operated by the people who founded and ran it for the last several years. According to Tim Feess, the company's founder and former CEO, the original management team is no longer with the company and hasn't been since November of 2021.
GNARBOX appears to be dead. The company behind the popular rugged backup device has seemingly gone dark, leaving customers without support and turning the product into an expensive portable drive with no extra functionality.
Back in 2015, a stealthy startup company called Light made a splash in the photo industry by announcing a point-and-shoot camera called the L16 that featured a whopping 16 separate cameras across its face. Fast forward half a decade, and now Light is no longer working to revolutionize photography at all.
A wedding videography and photography company has sparked fury online for its response to a client who requested a refund after the death of his fiancée.
Samsung unveiled the world's first 108-megapixel smartphone camera sensor back in August 2019, but that sensor is only a taste of what may be to come. Samsung is aiming to one day make a 600-megapixel sensor that's superior to the human eye.
GoPro is getting slammed by the business headwinds created by the coronavirus pandemic, and the company announced yesterday that it will be laying off 20% of its remaining workforce. What's more, the company is planning to drop retailers and work to sell its products directly to consumers.
Olympus has issued an official statement in hopes of putting to rest once and for all rumors that the company is considering selling or shutting down its sputtering camera business.
The photography software company Alien Skin Software announced a major company rebranding today. Henceforth, the company will be known as Exposure Software and its new website can be found at exposure.software.
One of Sony's crown jewels in its empire is its image sensor business, which dominates global market share and has helped the company hit record profits. But now a famous investor is calling for Sony to spin-off the sensor business into a completely independent company.
Sports Illustrated is going the way of Polaroid and Kodak. Once known for its cream-of-the-crop sports photography, the iconic magazine was just sold in a $110 million deal, and the new owner has big plans to make money by licensing out the brand.
If you've been eyeing Huawei's latest P30 Pro smartphone and its ISO 409600 low-light capabilities, you should know that there's major trouble brewing for the brand due to a the US government blacklisting it. Google has reportedly suspended its business with Huawei, including dropping Android support.
Olympus turns 100 years old this year, and to celebrate the milestone, the company has just released this 6.5-minute mini-documentary dedicated to the history and evolution of its camera and imaging business.
Canon and Nikon both published their latest financial reports over the past couple of weeks, and the numbers don't paint a rosy picture for the camera industry. Both companies reported a decline in imaging business sales of around 17% over the previous year.
Big news in the world of film photography: the Kodak film business is reportedly up for sale. Kodak Alaris is said to be looking to sell part or all of its business, and its film business, in particular, could be sold to another company within the next month or two.
When the news broke on January 29th, 2019, that the restructuring of Tetenal had apparently failed, a shockwave rolled over the analog community. Suddenly, supply for basic photochemistry of all sorts seemed uncertain.
In late 2018, it emerged that Tetenal, one of the largest photo chemistry companies in the world, was in serious financial turmoil. It now appears that efforts to save the business have failed, and Tetenal will reportedly be closing up for good after a whopping 172 years in the analog photography industry.
Almost every year, GoPro releases a new action camera, and for the last few years, they’ve been pretty disappointing. Also, every year I seem to fall for their marketing and buy one of their action cameras only to lament that decision. I understand it’s my fault, I should know better. Clearly, I’m operating with heaps of wishful thinking.
Here's some big news in Europe that hasn't made a big splash in the US and has largely flown under our radar: the very day after Photokina, Tetenal announced that it's in financial turmoil. Tetenal is one of the largest photochemical businesses in the world and produces chemicals for brands like Ilford and Kodak.
The popular blogging platform Tumblr has announced that starting on December 17th, 2018, it will permanently ban all adult content and nudity. That includes artistic nude photos published by professional photographers.
Reuters is combining its photography and video news staff into a single team of visual journalists. The international news agency is also expected to cut jobs in the process of combining the operations.
Fotolia has announced that it will be shutting down its website on November 5, 2019, 14.5 years after its birth in 2005 and 5 years after it was acquired by Adobe for $800 million in cash in 2014.
Of all the current camera manufacturers, if you were to call me a fanboy of any of them, Fujifilm would be the most accurate. There’s good reason too: it produces some of the best cameras on the market and its commitment to offering meaningful updates, after the fact, is uniquely wonderful.
The photography business Photojojo has closed up shop after 12 years of procuring content and products for photographers.
The stock photo powerhouse Getty Images is now once again owned by the Getty family from which it received its name. The company announced that the family has acquired a majority stake in the company and will take full control.